title: Proteomic investigation of aphid honeydew reveals an unexpected diversity of proteins.
abstract: Aphids feed on the phloem sap of plants, and are the most common honeydew-producing insects. While aphid honeydew is primarily considered to comprise sugars and amino acids, its protein diversity has yet to be documented. Here, we report on the investigation of the honeydew proteome from the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. Using a two-Dimensional Differential in-Gel Electrophoresis (2D-Dige) approach, more than 140 spots were isolated, demonstrating that aphid honeydew also represents a diverse source of proteins. About 66% of the isolated spots were identified through mass spectrometry analysis, revealing that the protein diversity of aphid honeydew originates from several organisms (i.e. the host aphid and its microbiota, including endosymbiotic bacteria and gut flora). Interestingly, our experiments also allowed to identify some proteins like chaperonin, GroEL and Dnak chaperones, elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu), and flagellin that might act as mediators in the plant-aphid interaction. In addition to providing the first aphid honeydew proteome analysis, we propose to reconsider the importance of this substance, mainly acknowledged to be a waste product, from the aphid ecology perspective.
authors.affiliation: Earth and Life Institute, Biodiversity Research Center, Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sabri
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vandermoten
authors.forename: Pascal D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Leroy
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haubruge
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hance
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Thonart
authors.forename: Edwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Pauw
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Francis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001042:Aphids / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D030562:Databases, Protein; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods*; D057825:Two-Dimensional Difference Gel Electrophoresis
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins